Illustrated Theatre Production Guide, 2nd Edition

50 Illustrated Theatre Production Guide 2 ed

absorbing pile. Duvetyn is a less-expensive substitute.

Duvetyn has a nappy, textural surface but no actual pile.

This nappy surface helps to trap light, making the

drapes nonreflective and less obtrusive. Black is the most

popular color for all stage drapes, because that color

absorbs the most light. Drapes that belong to a certain

theatre are often called the house rags.

MASKING

Masking is a term used to identify curtains that block

the audience view of the backstage area. Curtains that

mask the overhead space of a stage are called borders.

Borders are really wide but not very tall. Ideally, they

should be the same width as the battens that they are

hung on, so that they run all the way from one side of

the stage to the other. Legs mask the offstage space or

wings. Legs are tall, but usually not very wide. They

should be at least several feet taller than the proscenium

opening, but not so tall that the bottoms do not clear

sightlines when they are flown all the way out. In a

theatre with a very short fly tower, that ideal situation

might not be met and some sort of happy medium

should be reached.

A standard method exists for using legs and borders

to mask the stage. It is customary to hang one border

in front of a set of two legs in order to create a frame

for the stage picture. These leg and border sets are used

from downstage to upstage in repetition. The legs

should be wide enough, and the leg and border sets close

enough together so that the audience cannot see around

them into the wings. Sometimes this is not possible if

there is very little offstage space, and/or if the audito-

rium is especially wide. Leg and border sets create the

sightlines for the stage, defining where the audience can

and cannot see. It is important for the border to be on

a separate lineset from the legs so that they are indepen-

dently adjustable. Be sure to hang the border downstage

of the two legs so that it will cover the pipe they are on.

The spaces between the border and leg sets are often

referred to as in one, in two, in three, etc. This terminol-

ogy refers to the spaces between the legs and is often

used to indicate the place where an actor or a piece of

scenery should enter. Example: “Enter through the stage

left in one with the chair and place it on the red spike

marks downstage.” Leg and border sets are a direct

descendent of the wing and drop scenery used in early

proscenium theatres. Setting up the stage that way was

so efficient that it is still done today.

Another specific piece of masking consists of a

large black drape that covers the entire width of the

stage, either at the rear of the stage, or about halfway

back, or both. This curtain is used as a dark back-

ground that covers the back wall and forms a crossover,

or as a covering device for shifting scenery upstage

while a scene is being played downstage. This type of

curtain is commonly known as a blackout. It is most

often constructed as two solid panels that are hung side

by side. You can also put together a blackout from

multiple sets of legs that are overlapped to create the

same effect. Be sure to overlap the edges by at least 1

foot (also equal to one tie) to prevent a split from

showing. Blackouts are often hung on a traveler track,

so that when opened that way, they form the two legs

in a leg and border set.

SPECIALTY CURTAINS

Some theatres are equipped with a batten that curves

around the entire stage area rather than merely from

side to side. This type of batten is known as a cyclorama

or cyc pipe. The two arms of the cyc run up/down stage

at the off stage ends of a regular pipe. If the cyc is meant

to be lighted in order to create a sky effect, it is known

as a sky cyc.